Reins of the Crimson Pandaren Phoenix is the model used for the "Pandaren Phoenix" Challenge Mode mount reward, and it's now automatically learned by all players on beta. The animations seem a bit rushed so far, but it's always nice to see a new model instead of a reskinned mount. We recently datamined four colors of this mount model, which we've included below too: click on the images to view them in our 3D Model Viewer!

Lore made another raid preview video--this time it's on Tsulong, a cloud serpent! This fight has contrasting Day and Night phases, in which players alternate between damaging and healing Tsulong to free him from the Sha's corruption.

Legends speak of a spiraling, golden serpent that can sometimes be seen high in the sky, basking in the sunlight above the clouds. The few who claim to have observed it themselves say the creature is fiercely protective of the terrace.

Encounter Journal

The Night:Tsulong struggles at Night with the Sha's corrupting influence. Bringing Tsulong's remaining health to zero while at Night permanently destroys the Sha's influence over him. When he reaches 100 energy, he temporarily purges the Sha's influence and radiant sunlight turns Night into Day.

Dread Shadows: The Dread Shadows created by the Sha within Tsulong inflict 4875 to 5125 Shadow damage on all players and increases their Dread Shadows damage taken by 10%. This effect stacks.

Nightmares: The Sha within Tsulong projects Nightmares at the location of a random player. The Nightmares inflict 48750 to 51250 Shadow damage and fear players within 8 yards of the impact for 3 sec.

Shadow Breath: Tsulong expels out Sha energy in a 30 degree cone in front of him, inflicting 136500 to 143500 Shadow damage and increasing Shadow damage taken by 100% for 30 sec. This effect stacks.

Sunbeam: Tsulong's attempts to resist the Sha allow him to protect the players from Dread Shadows. Tsulong summons a Sunbeam onto the battlefield, and the Sunbeam grants immunity to Dread Shadows for players standing within the beam. The protected area of the Sunbeam shrinks over time as more players stand within it.

The Dark of Night: The Dark of Night appears at a random location and moves towards the nearest Sunbeam. The Dark of Night extinguishes a Sunbeam upon reaching it.

The Day:During the Day, Tsulong gains the upper hand over the Sha corruption. Players may heal and aid Tsulong during the Day, and bringing him to full health while in the Day permanently destroys the Sha's influence over him. When he reaches 100 energy, the Sha corrupts his emotions and Night descends upon the Terrace.

Embodied Terror: Embodied Terrors spawn as the Sha fights to control Tsulong. When players destroy an Embodied Terror, five Fright Spawns burst out.

Terrorize: The Embodied Terror casts Terrorize on both a random player and on Tsulong. The terror inflicts 10% of the player's current health as Shadow damage every 2 sec for 10 sec. Tsulong suffers 1% of his total health as Shadow damage every 1 sec. for 10 sec.

Unstable Bolt: The Unstable Sha unleashes shadowy energy at a random player, inflicting 48750 to 51250 Shadow damage on the target. The Unstable Bolt also damages the Unstable Sha for 10% of its maximum health.

Instability: If an Unstable Sha reaches Tsulong, it inflicts 2437500 to 2562500 Shadow damage on Tsulong and disappears.

Sun Breath: Tsulong breathes out solar energy in a 60-degree cone in front of him, inflicting 3900000 to 4100000 Nature damage to Sha within 0 yards and stunning them for 8 sec. The breath also places the Bathed in Light effect on players within its area.

Bathed in Light: The warmth of the Sun instantly restores 25% of a player's total mana and increases their healing done by 500% for 15 sec.

The Light of Day: The Light of Day appears at a random location. Interacting with The Light of Day restores mana every 1 sec. and increases healing done by 3000% for 30 sec. The amount of mana restored increases while the healing done decreases over the duration of the effect.

Click the cut for pictures of the Sha of Fear, Lei Shi, and Blade Lord Ta'yak, as well as recent blue posts!

The Sha of Fear is the physical manifestation of terror in Pandaria. Imprisoned by the legendary pandaren emperor Shao Hao long ago, the entity has been newly strengthened by rising conflict across the island.

Encounter Journal

The Terrace of Endless Spring:The Sha of Fear looms atop the Terrace, attempting to consume the pure light emanating from its center.

Pure Light: A narrow column of uncorrupted light still projects skyward from the center of the terrace. When a player stands in this light it bends, forming a protective wall that extends back from this Champion of the Light in a 'V' shape. This attracts the attention of the Sha of Fear, who fixates on the Champion.

Wall of Light: The Champion and other players standing within the wall of light take 10% reduced damage from all sources. The wall also deflects the Sha's Breath of Fear attack.

Breath of Fear: The Sha of Fear unleashes a horrible breath attack, inflicting 248625 to 261375 Shadow damage to all enemies over 1 sec. Affected enemies are feared for the duration. Players standing behind the Wall of Light are unaffected.

Eerie Skull: The Sha throws a skull at a player's location, inflicting 36000 to 44000 Shadow damage to enemies within 0 yards of the impact point.

Ominous Cackle: The Sha cackles ominously and transports a group of players to one of the outer shrines to battle a former guardian of the terrace.

Terror Spawn: The Sha periodically summons a pair of Terror Spawns to attack players. A bulwark of dark energy protecting each Terror Spawn deflects spells and attacks that strike the front of the creature.

Penetrating Bolt: The Terror Spawn hurls a bolt of Sha energy at a player's location, inflicting 57000 to 63000 Shadow damage to enemies within 0 yards of the impact point. Affected enemies take 25% increased Shadow damage for 15 sec.

Reaching Attack: The Sha strikes at a distant target, inflicting 100% of weapon damage as Shadow and increasing Shadow damage taken by 25% for 12 sec. The Sha uses this ability when no targets are in melee range.

Lei's Hope: The light in the terrace seems to glow more brightly after players force the Sha to retreat to the Dread Expanse. Attack and casting speeds are increased by 20$ within the Terrace of Endless Spring on subsequent attempts.

The Outer Shrines:The group of players transported by Ominous Cackle must defeat one of three Sha possessed crossbowmen. The former terrace guardians Yang Guoshi, Cheng Kang, and Jinlun Kun attack the players.

Shoot: The caster shoots at the target, inflicting 50% weapon damage as Physical.

Dread Spray: The caster rapidly fires sprays of Dread Bolts at enemy targets for 8 sec. The caster gains immunity to taunt for the duration. Each spray of Dread Bolts fires in a cone in front of the caster, inflicting 35% of weapon damage as Shadow and afflicting the target for 8 sec. At 2 stacks, the Dread Spray fears the target for 2 sec.

Death Blossom: The caster spins in a circle, unleashing a hail of bolts in all directions for 6 sec. Each bolt that strikes an enemy inflicts 23750 to 26250 Physical damage.

Sha Globe: Globes of Sha energy are knocked out of the possessed crossbowman as he loses health. Touching a globe will consume it, inflicting 10000 Shadow damage but refilling the player's primary resource. If not consumed within 8 sec the globe will return to the bowman, healing him for 5% of his maximum health.

Fearless: Defeating any of the possessed crossbowmen returns the group to the central terrace and grants them 100% increased damage, 100% increased movement speed, and immunity to Fear and Horror effects for 30 sec.

The Dread Expanse:On heroic difficulty the Sha of Fear retreats to the Dread Expanse at low remaining health, dragging players along with him. This watery wasteland is a place of the Sha's making where he has access to a new set of abilities.

Fading Light: The last glimmers of light from the terrace heal players as they are extinguished, restoring 90% health and mana over 6 sec. In addition, all player cooldowns are reset.

Pure Light: The uncorrupted light from the terrace binds itself to the current champion and takes on a new form. It grows stronger, granting the champion immunity to fear and horror effects and reduces their damage taken by 25%.

Transfer Light: The champion can use this ability to move the Pure Light to a targeted friendly player.

Implacable Strike: The Sha unleashes an Implacable Strike in the direction of his current target that inflicts 605500 to 794500 damage to enemies up to 0 yards away.

Naked and Afraid: The Sha strips the gear from his current target before performing Implacable Strike, reducing the target's armor and chance to dodge by 100% for 40 sec.

Waterspout: The Sha agitates the water under several players, creating a series of waterspouts. Each waterspout takes 1.5 sec. to form and explode, inflicting 121875 to 128125 Frost damage to enemies within 2 yds.

Huddle in Terror: The Sha terrifies several players, causing them to cower in fear and inflicting 80000 Shadow damage every 1 sec. for 15 sec.

Submerge: The Sha disappears below the surface of the Dread Expanse for a short time, then emerges under a random player and inflicts 585000 to 615000 Frost damage to enemies within 10 yds. The Sha summons a Dread Spawn at his location every time he submerges.

Dread Spawn: This creature fixates on the current champion of the light. If a new player becomes the champion the Dread Spawn changes targets.

For countless years, this friendly water spirit frolicked in the Fountains of Endless Spring with childlike wonder and glee. When fighting suddenly broke out in this peaceful place, Lei Shi saw the crystal-clear water turn cloudy and murky, and terror fell over her mind.

Encounter Journal

Afraid: Lei Shi grows more afraid as players hurt her. She gains 1% casting speed for each 1 percent health of her total health lost.

Spray: Lei Shi casts Spray instead of using melee attacks. Spray causes water to burst from the ground at a player's feet, inflicting 65000-136500 Frost damage to all players within 2.5 yards and increasing their Frost damage taken by 10% for 10 sec.

Hide: Lei Shi hides from players. Players cannot target her while hiding, but area of effect attacks and spells can still hit her. Lei Shi reveals herself after the players strike her enough times.

Get Away!: Lei Shi channels the waters of the Endless Spring, pushing her enemies away and inflicting 24700 to 27300 periodic Frost damage. She channels for 30 sec or until players infilict 4% of Lei Shi's maximum health in damage.

Protect: Lei surrounds herself with an inpenetrable bubble and animates several elementals to protect her. She maintains the bubble until players defeat one of her Animated Protectors.

Animated Protector: When Lei Shi casts Protect, she animates these elementals from the bracers scattered throughout the area. The elementals turn back into water and fall to the ground when the effect ends.

Scary Fog: Sha energy coalesces around several players, inflicting 5000 Shadow damage every 2 sec. for 40 sec. In addition, players and enemies near an afflicted player take 5% more damage from all sources. This effect stacks.

Ta'yak is known for his patience and intelligence. In battle, he is a master at discovering his opponent's weaknesses and awaiting the perfect opportunity to strike. Ta'yak's skill with a blade is unmatched, and he cherishes imparting his martial knowledge on young mantid warriors.

Encounter Journal

Tempest Slash: Blade Lord Ta'yak slashes the air, creating a tornado that inflicts 190000 to 210000 Nature damage and knocks away any enemies in its path.

Unseen Strike: Blade Lord Ta'yak fixes his eyes on a random player and then disappears. He reappears 5 sec. later and inflicts 4000000 Physical damage split amongst all players in a 15 yard long cone in front of him.

Wind Step: Blade Lord Ta'yak teleports to random player and inflicts a quick strike. The blow causes all targets within 8 yards to bleed for 160000 Physical damage every 3 sec. for 30 sec.

Intensify: Blade Lord Ta'yak's fury intensifies during the encounter. Every 60 sec. Ta'yak increases his damage dealt by 5% and his haste by 5%. This effect stacks.

Overwhelming Assault: Blade Lord Ta'yak performs an overwheming attack on his current target, inflicting 200% of a normal melee swing's attack. The attack leaves the target's defenses exposed, increasing the target's damage taken when an Overwhelming Assault lands by 100% for 45 sec.

Storm Unleashed: Blade Lord Ta'yak traps all of the players within a mass of tornados, moving them to one end of the hall. The constant buffeting of the powerful winds on every player inflicts 8075 to 8925 Nature damage every 1 sec. This damage increases with Ta'yak's current Intensity level.Ta'yak then assumes position at the opposite end of the hall, then unleashes a barrage of tornados towards the players. Tornados that pass over players carry the player away from Ta'yak.

25-Player Raid Incentives

Draztal

The devs don't have, at this time, any plans to incentivize 25-man raiding. They want to make 10 and 25-man raids close enough, so that you choose whatever you find more fun.

Challenge Mode Feedback

Watcher

Thanks for the feedback. Just to be clear, the gear "upscaling" is a beta-only feature, just to level the playing field since most players in beta will not legitimately have item level 463 gear. On the live servers, your gear will only scale down, not up.

Regarding the use of "cheesy" tactics while running challenge modes, we're looking into ways of limiting some of the most offensive ones while still allowing for planning a tactical route through the dungeon to be a major part of the gameplay. Dodging patrols, using tools like Shroud of Concealment to skip some avoidable enemies? Cool. Training through the entire Armory wing of Scarlet Halls and Mass Resurrecting on the other side? Not so cool.

As for rewards, the intent is for prestige to be the prize. When you are soaring around town on your Pandaren Phoenix, or showing off as your character becomes engulfed in flames when you /roar, everyone who sees will know that you earned those rewards through expert play, because you cannot outgear challenge modes, only outskill them.

Beta Class Balance Analysis

Ghostcrawler

One slight correction to something we said a while back:White attacks are still ‘one roll’ (Miss Dodge Parry Block Glance Crit Hit), and yellow attacks are still ‘two roll’ (Miss Dodge Parry Block, Crit). The only change to that is that Block against players is an additional separate roll now.

Correction: Block is always a separate roll, not just on players. So white attacks are technically two rolls (Miss Dodge Parry Glance Crit Hit vs. Block NonBlock), and yellow attacks are technically three rolls (Miss Dodge Parry Hit vs. Block NonBlock vs. Crit NonCrit). However, please take care in discussing this, since "two roll" has historically meant that crit is rolled separately, which is NOT the case for white attacks.

Continuing on from this post: is Runic Corruption bugged? Some DKs are noticing that multiple procs of Runic Corruption in a row are leading to the buff getting a full 3 seconds added to it. Take an instance of 3 Runic Corruption procs in a row with a 2.5 second duration. 3 Runic Corruption procs in a row should grant 7.5 seconds, but in actuality, is giving us 8.5 seconds (2.5 + 3 + 3).

Could this bug possibly explain why Runic Corruption is doing so well for the devs and not the players?

Yes, that is exactly what is happening and is fixed for the next build. That should account for some of the difference between Runic Corruption and Runic Empowerment.

Yes. We will change the tooltip to clarify that it only affects melee special attacks.

From the calculator I'm assuming this is 70 percent right?

Yes.

Have you guys done the low level pvp pass that Zarhym mentioned in this thread many months back?

No, not yet. Good question. We like to make sure the changes we have for level 85-90 feel shippable before we look at things at lower level. Any abilities that stand out are certainly worth mentioning (anywhere in this forum) so we will be on the lookout for them.

Is there a chance that it could be tied to both Critical Block chance and Shield Barrier potency so Mastery is relevant to both our AM Buttons, like paladins got with their Bastion of Glory talent? (You could also bring back the "Hold the Line" name this way.)

We think Prot's mastery works. Block chance is still useful since you can't get 100% uptime of Shield Block. Shield Barrier is getting a lot of attention now because it works so well on easier dungeons and older content, but we expect warriors will still be using Shield Block a lot on tougher fights.

In Fury related news, is there any chance that Raging Blow could be looked at? It's still not very powerful or integral to Fury's rotation and only accounts for a small portion of Fury's overall DPS.

We agree that Raging Blow needs to hit harder. You should be excited about using it whenever it is available.

Is it intended that Rime proc Howling Blast doesn't produce 10 Runic power? Also, using conversion while in frost spec/pres causes the RP generation to go from 20% to 100%.

Yes. RP generation is associated with spending runes. We’ve fixed the bug with Conversion interacting incorrectly with Frost Presence for the next build.

Frankly, I don't see buffing to be the right approach for Shaman mana regeneration

The intent of is free Lightning Bolt, not a healer mana regeneration system.

(The new priest talent, Power Word: Solace is intended to generate mana, but it is a talent that competes against other mana regeneration / conservation talents. Always remember when looking at healer mana that you have to look at the entire package, including the costs of heals themselves.)

Consuming Content Too Fast

Draztal

The "why should we ruin this for the hardcore" bit has been explained several posts ago (and in multiple ocasions).

However, there's something this hardcore/casual attitude that hasn't been tackled at length on this thread. (Note: this is a bit of a rant, just my personal, and probably crazy, opinion.)

Perhaps we should find a definition of what's a "hardcore" and a "casual" player (Hint: You'll probably have an easier time predicting the lottery numbers) that the community can agree on. It's an incredible tricky question. If we go by the "classic definition" (is there even one?) of the term, a hardcore player would be any person deeply interested in a game, usually with a very high level of play and understanding, and capable of devoting plenty of time to it.

These days, I've seen it all, from players playing 5 hours a day, 5 days a week, claiming they're casual, to players playing 3 hours a day, 2 days a week, claiming they're hardcore. It obviously can't be that way for everyone. (And truth be told, in most cases I've seen the "casual" or "hardcore" word attached depending on which one would favour the argument that was being presented).

If we go by this sort of "classic definition", then it's very clear who's "hardcore" and who's not. And some people will be very close to that definition, but not close enough. Either because you can't devote enough time (which is completely fine), or because your group doesn't have that level of skill (which, again, is completely fine too).

If we go by that "classic definition" of the term, then we could assume that hardcore players completed the raid relatively quick after the initial Heroic Madness kill and were not affected at all by the debuff.

So, to me, the real question would be "where do we stop considering players hardcore"? But that's a debate that would probably never end...My answer to that group is that they can turn the debuff off.

The answer to that is that they can't because of the realm race (or whichever), but in that case, at least to me, it sounds like the interest of that group doesn't lie on the challenge itself, as much as on finishing ahead of others (which is probably just as fun for some people).

As long as the possibility to turn off the debuff exists, noone is being "robbed" of anything. The challenge is still there, if you and your guildmates want to do it.

Comments

Comment by JunkyVirus

There already is a real Phoenix mount in game, that's just bad -.-Fail

Comment by thegalaxygoddess

on Mon, 09 Jul 2012 12:24:56 -0500

I saw the pheonix mount and gasped so hard I almost passed out.

It's so awesome, it's more like a dark peacock than a "pheonix" so I don't know why they named it that, but OMG SO PRETTY! Waaant

Comment by Gumballs

on Mon, 09 Jul 2012 12:58:20 -0500

/droooool...

I want that mount. <3

Comment by Adamsm

on Mon, 09 Jul 2012 13:07:25 -0500

Heh the phoenix is really derpy right now, unless you are strifing or surfing along the ground; then it looks cool....other wise, it's wings beat so fast, you think it's on a permanent sugar high.

Comment by Nukillis

on Mon, 09 Jul 2012 13:14:15 -0500

The phoenix mount is currently called the Seizure or Crack Bird on beta. The name suits it perfectly, seeing as how it looks like a damned hummingbird when it flies. XD

But yes, it is a very majestic mount. I just wish Phoenixes could be ground/air mounts.

Comment by Interest

on Mon, 09 Jul 2012 14:27:25 -0500

That looks awfully like a giant raven or redesigned hippogryph.

The phoenix mount is currently called the Seizure or Crack Bird on beta. The name suits it perfectly, seeing as how it looks like a damned hummingbird when it flies. XD

But yes, it is a very majestic mount. I just wish Phoenixes could be ground/air mounts.

Rofl.

Comment by mellos

on Mon, 09 Jul 2012 15:10:00 -0500

about draztal's second intervew:well said there man!well said!

Comment by yowowdeath

on Mon, 09 Jul 2012 16:37:56 -0500

maybe it is a bit boring that there comes a phoenix/raven mount every time. just gets a bit boring by the time dunno thats just my opinion.

Comment by Interest

on Mon, 09 Jul 2012 16:53:40 -0500

I'm liking some of the encounter designs too, btw. =)

Comment by syrlinus

on Mon, 09 Jul 2012 17:17:33 -0500

The phoenix mount is currently called the Seizure or Crack Bird on beta. The name suits it perfectly, seeing as how it looks like a damned hummingbird when it flies. XD

But yes, it is a very majestic mount. I just wish Phoenixes could be ground/air mounts.

LOL.. that's a great way to describe it. The first time I tried it I thought it was a hummingbird or something and having a fit in the process. It was too irritating to drive with all that flapity-flapity-flapity going on so I switch it for my glow-in-the-dark Phoenix. :P

Comment by perculia

on Mon, 09 Jul 2012 17:24:38 -0500

I'm liking some of the encounter designs too, btw. =)

That is actually really nice to hear :) I enjoyed raiding hardmodes for many years before scheduling became too complicated, and always like covering that angle of beta. Those parts of the news posts take longer and don't get as many comments, but it's nice to know people find them interesting.

Comment by Thorvas

on Mon, 09 Jul 2012 17:30:29 -0500

I wonder how the other ones will be obtained.

Although I can imagine yet another "Glory of the blabla raider" or "Glory of the hero" achievement I will never get. And these fantastic mounts attached to it.

Its sort of hard to find out where they belong. Seeing as each expansion has about two main mounts (or more) , Stone drakes and wind drakes, proto drakes and regular drakes, and in MoP : Phoenix/peacock and serpent dragons

Comment by perculia

Comment by Voltt

on Mon, 09 Jul 2012 18:41:47 -0500

That cloud serpent boss looks really fun to play! I really like the mechanic of inverting health.

That phoenix really bugs me, though. I feel like its legs are too far back or something, like they used the skin of the phoenix/alar mount and the skeleton of a hippogryph. It looks really top-heavy and lopsided.

Comment by Interest

on Tue, 10 Jul 2012 00:22:13 -0500

I'm liking some of the encounter designs too, btw. =)

That is actually really nice to hear :) I enjoyed raiding hardmodes for many years before scheduling became too complicated, and always like covering that angle of beta. Those parts of the news posts take longer and don't get as many comments, but it's nice to know people find them interesting.

Still not at my caliber though ;3

Comment by tonydizzle

on Tue, 10 Jul 2012 00:57:42 -0500

...it's always nice to see a new model instead of a reskinned mount

Correct me if I'm wrong with the terminology, but I believe this *is* a reskin of the current phoenixes, just not an ethereal one. It seems to be based on the same model to me anyway.

Comment by Vahlok

on Tue, 10 Jul 2012 01:38:31 -0500

I saw the pheonix mount and gasped so hard I almost passed out.

It's so awesome, it's more like a dark peacock than a "pheonix" so I don't know why they named it that, but OMG SO PRETTY! Waaant

Phoenix's are normal birds before they die, when they die they are reborn into birds of flame. Mythology is fun.

Comment by Interest

on Tue, 10 Jul 2012 01:57:42 -0500

...it's always nice to see a new model instead of a reskinned mount

Correct me if I'm wrong with the terminology, but I believe this *is* a reskin of the current phoenixes, just not an ethereal one. It seems to be based on the same model to me anyway.

Technically, although I swear it's a fusion of the hippogryph and phoenix models.

Comment by FuzzyFuzz9

on Tue, 10 Jul 2012 02:06:11 -0500

The phoenix mount is currently called the Seizure or Crack Bird on beta. The name suits it perfectly, seeing as how it looks like a damned hummingbird when it flies. XD

But yes, it is a very majestic mount. I just wish Phoenixes could be ground/air mounts.